New Beginnings
by ilovemovies19
Summary: After Arthur tells Ariadne the reason behind his odd behavior, her whole entire life changes.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Beginnings **

"So what do you want to do now?" Arthur repeated to Ariadne, after they were done with watching the movie. Ariadne was too distracted, feeling comfortable having Arthur hold on to her. She was happy with him, he truly cared for her, and she was certain that their relationship would be different.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just go to bed." Ariadne stood up from the couch and tried to walk him to her bedroom, but he wouldn't move.

"I think I'll just sleep on the couch. I have a lot to do tomorrow." He yawned, and rubbed his tiring eyes.

"Arthur, you don't have to work tomorrow, its fine, and you can sleep in my bedroom."

"No, I'm good; I'll just sleep on the couch." He said curtly.

Ariadne felt her face flushing, from being angry. "Okay, what's going on here? Your behavior has been really off these past few weeks. You know if something is bothering you, you can always tell me."

"No, I can't."

"Why can't you trust me? We've been dating for seven months, and you can't even tell me what's bothering you?" _Is he cheating on me?_

"I can't tell you because you won't understand. Maybe it's better off that I go home." He stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"Yes, maybe it is. Don't bother calling me either, because our date tomorrow night is most definitely off."

"Don't worry; I won't bother calling you Ariadne." Arthur said as he started opening her apartment door.

"Stick in the mud!" Ariadne shouted.

"Goodbye." Arthur gritted through his teeth, before slamming the door shut. _How many times have I told Eames to stop calling me that! _Arthur angrily walked to his car, he sat in his expensive car and wondered if he would ever be able to tell Ariadne what was going on, why he was being distant, but then he realized that maybe it would be better off if she didn't know, she would be heartbroken if she ever found out.

* * *

"Arthur go home, it's your day off." Cobb sternly said to Arthur.

"No, its fine, I need to get my mind off of things." Arthur sat at his office, looking over legal documents.

'You're a lawyer, you work too much, and as your boss I'm telling you to go home. Eames will handle this case."

"Eames? He's lazy and he'll ruin this case, I have to do it. He'll just try to get me fired." He didn't look up, but he knew Cobb was getting frustrated with his recent behavior.

"Look, I don't think it's appropriate for people to bring their personal problems to this law firm, as your boss I wouldn't give a shit, but I'm also your friend, and as your friend I'm telling you to work things out with Ariadne, you need to tell her about your condition."

"And as a friend, I'm telling you to stay out of it. I'll tell her, when I decide to do it." Arthur continued writing notes down for his big Fischer case.

"Fine then, you're off the Fischer case."

"Cobb! You can't do that! You know I've been working hard on this case since I became Fischer's lawyer!"

"And soon you'll be too sick to actually work, so I think this is better off for you, Eames is willing to-"

Arthur stood up and snapped at him. "Eames?! I put a lot of effort for this case, and I'm not giving up on it!"

"You'll be too sick to actually work by the time court proceeds begin; this is for your benefit. Now go home Arthur."

Arthur grabbed his keys and stormed out, when he ran into Eames.

"Why stick in the mud, going home so soon?" Eames mockingly said to him.

"Shut up!" Arthur shouted as he continued to walk out. Although he was angry, Cobb was right; he had to tell Ariadne that he was sick.

**So this idea came into my head while I was watching 50/50, hope you guys enjoy it. **

**Please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**An Explanation**

Ariadne's phone rang; she looked at the caller I.D and noticed it was Arthur.

"Is it Arthur?" Her friend, April said.

"Yes, it is."

"You should pick up; maybe he's going to apologize."

"Alright…" Ariadne walked to her room and answered it.

"Are you going to apologize to me?" she said bluntly.

"I need to talk to you, in person. I owe you an explanation for my recent behavior." He paused and then continued, "How about dinner at my house?"

"I'll try to make it."

"Please come, it's important."

"Whatever." Ariadne said indifferently before hanging up on him.

* * *

Arthur impatiently waited for Ariadne to arrive. He checked the clock for the tenth time, wondering if she was ever going to show up. _She's ten minutes late._ He felt sweaty and he couldn't stop shivering, he knew he was sick, but he wanted to explain to his girlfriend what was going on. He was startled by the sudden knock on his door. _That has to be her._ He stood up and opened the door, and a casually dressed Ariadne walked in.

"Sorry, I was late; I didn't know if this was something formal or casual." She made her way to the fancy glass dinner table and sat down.

"It's fine, I should have explained more. I made your favorite dish." He nervously sat down.

Ariadne looked at the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and noticed that he looked sickly pale. "Are you sure you don't want to do this some other time? You look sick." She went over by him to feel his forehead. "Arthur! You're burning up!"

"Wait! Don't go yet, this is what I've been trying to tell you."

"What is it?" Ariadne felt fear creep up her spine. _Is he sick?_

"I'm sick."

"Sick? What do you mean?"

Arthur shivered as his fever began to kick in. "I've been meaning to tell you, I…" He started breathing deeply and Ariadne helped him stand up.

"Let's get you to bed. You can tell me later, you need to rest." She walked him into his spacious bedroom and had him lie in his bed.

"I need to tell you. I have to tell you." He frantically said as she felt his forehead, and left to get him cold medication.

"You can tell me later Arthur. You're sick and you should get some sleep. Damn it Arthur, you need to take care of yourself before you take on big cases." When she noticed he wouldn't respond she turned around saw that he fell asleep. She smiled, although he was sick, for once in several weeks, he was relaxed and resembled a child. "I'll take care of you, don't worry." She murmured before closing the door to let him rest.

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	3. Chapter 3

**The Truth**

The last couple of days seemed to blur together but after 4 days of lying in bed, and having Ariadne force him to stay away from his job worked. Arthur slowly stood up from his bed and looked at the clock. 8:00 A.M. _Ariadne is probably at work right now._ His body still ached from the fever that took over his his body, and for once he was actually hungry. Her voice then suddenly startled him.

"Good morning. Feeling better?"

"I thought you were at work. You didn't have to stay here to help, I can help myself." He said sounding defensive.

"I asked for it off, I told them you were really sick. I don't understand why you're so damn defensive, you were really sick and I almost took you to the hospital." _Where is all that anger coming from?_

"I'm a grown man, not a child, I know for a fact that I could have taken myself to the hospital if I were too sick."

"I guess I'll leave then. You don't want me here. Arrogant prick."

"No wait, I do you have to tell you something." He bit his lower lip to prevent him from backing out.

"What?" Ariadne said with a slight edge to her voice.

"I'm going to die soon."

* * *

"What?!" Ariadne managed to say. "Arthur that isn't funny!"

He sadly looked at her with his brown eyes. She realized he was being serious. She sat on his bed and tried to wrap her mind around what he just said. "You're terminally ill?" Her voice croaked.

"Yes, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you any sooner."

"When did you find out?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried her best not to show her heartache.

"You don't want to know what I have? I found out a month ago."

"No I don't want to know. I just want to know why you're not trying to get the best treatment possible." She knew it was probably some sort of rare cancer.

"There's no point Ariadne; Nothing can stop my illness, and taking medication would just make me even more sick."

"I-I I need some time to wrap my mind around this okay? I need to go home." She ran out of the bedroom before turning back to get something off of her chest. "Arthur I... I love you."

His brown eyes immediately lit up, but before he had the chance to respond she tearfully ran out of his house.

* * *

After driving for what seemed hours Ariadne pulled over to the side of the road and let her emotions take over. She cried as soon as she imagined her life without Arthur. She never felt so strongly about her past boyfriends but Arthur was definitely different. Their relationship was different and he respected and cared about her, but he also let her live her own life. Then she thought about those words she said to him. I love you. Never has she ever told him that and now that she finally said it, she felt relieved of it, but that couldn't stop her heart from aching.

She was in love with an amazing person, she thought they would spend the rest of their lives together, and now she was losing him to an awful disease. He would never have children and he would never get the chance to grow old. She screamed out in pain. Now that she was happy with a relationship, he was going to be gone forever. "I can't live without you." She said through her tears as she continued to cry as she started up her car again to drive back to her house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Redemption**

He quickly fastened his tie and looked in the mirror and sighed. His illness was already making him lose a massive amount of weight. He felt insecure for once in his life. _I look like a little boy playing dress up. _ He went from being a charmer that could pick up any woman to a sickly looking man that needed to eat more. The only person that truly accepted him no matter what was Ariadne, but even she hasn't been returning his calls. _She needs more time. _He reassured himself, hoping that Ariadne wouldn't be the type of person to break up with him over an illness, or could she? He took off his jacket and decided to go with a more casual look for work.

* * *

"Ariadne you're being selfish. You should just call him back." April quietly told her.

"How am I being selfish? I need some time to process this."

"So you're going to ignore his phone calls? His terminally ill and he might take it the wrong way. What if he doesn't have anyone to talk to about how he feels? Has he even called you today?"

"I understand April, but…" she felt ringing in her ears. _Arthur hasn't called today._ She felt immediate fear for his safety and health. _What if he already passed away?_ "I have to go!" she yelled and left her favorite eatery.

* * *

"Eames what the hell are you doing in my office?!" a surprised Arthur said when he saw Eames sitting in his desk.

"Well, um… Cobb said this is going to be my new office." Eames nervously said.

"Well how about you stop being such a sarcastic a-"

"Arthur I need to see you in my office right now." Cobb interrupted. Arthur followed Cobb back to his office, but managed to see Eames mouth the words "thanks" as he was leaving.

Arthur sat in Cobb's office, infuriated. He knew what his friend would do next, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was paperwork to send him on a medical leave.

"If it's paper work for my medical leave, I'm not doing it."

Cobb sighed in frustration. "You're going to do it Arthur. Look at you. You look sick; everyone here knows what's going on. Why are you being so stubborn about this?"

"I'm not signing it. I'm fine and I can work."

"No you can't. Sign the paperwork."

Arthur clenched his jaw and sat in his office for 15 minutes to finish the paperwork. After he finished he handed it back to him and angrily said, "I hope you know what you're doing Cobb." Then he stormed out, ignoring the fact that he forgot to call Ariadne.

**Thanks for reading, it means a lot :) and please review :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Loving You**

Arthur walked towards his front porch, trying to find his key, and noticed Ariadne sitting on the bottom steps, with tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly feeling concerned.

"I was worried about you. I thought you were dead, because you didn't call me today." She sniffled trying to wipe the tears off of her face.

Arthur accidentally laughed, before walking closer to her to help her stand up.

"Don't laugh, it isn't funny." She smiled as she stood up. "I guess I better leave then."

"No, please stay. I think you owe me an explanation."

She looked at his pleading brown eyes, filled with sadness. "Okay, I'll stay."

He held her hand as they entered his house.

* * *

They both sat in awkward silence for several minutes, silently drinking coffee in the kitchen, before Ariadne decided to speak up.

"Arthur, I don't want you to get the wrong impression that I have been ignoring you because I can't handle it, I just needed time to wrap my mind around the thought of you being sick."

"I was starting to think that you were going to break up with me. I missed you."

Her heart broke as he put his hand over hers. She was ridden with guilt. _How could I be so selfish about this? It's about how he feels not about me. _"I would never do that to you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that and it was a selfish thing for me to do."

"I understand Ariadne. It must be a difficult thing."

"No, it's not okay for me to just abandon you. This is about how you're feeling not about me."

Arthur sighed and smiled at her. "So what do you want to do?"

"Anything you have in mind." They both smiled at each other, and for once in several weeks, they didn't argue, instead they let their love for each other surface, Arthur wanted to shout it out to the world at how in love he was, for once in his life, he was in love with someone amazing that was loving and caring. He would be willing to spend the rest of his life with her, even if it would be cut short.

**Please review :) and thank you so much for reading**


	6. Chapter 6

**Just Us**

"Did you do it?" Eames asked Arthur, as they sat at their favorite bar in the city.

"Eames!" Cobb groaned

"What? I'm just asking a friend if he finally got lucky."

"I would use the term 'friend' lightly Eames." Arthur sarcastically said as he took another drink of his shot glass.

"Come on, did you get lucky?"

"And this is your concern because?"

"Because you're not uptight anymore." Eames grinned knowing he finally made Arthur irritated with his immaturity.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Arthur stood up getting ready to make a scene.

"Will both of you just shut up and enjoy your drinks?" Cobb said. "In all seriousness, you do seem relaxed and you look better. You and Ariadne have been dating for a while."

Arthur nodded. "Yes we have. I'm actually thinking about proposing."

"Proposing? Mate, that's a huge step to take."

Cobb nearly spit out his drink. "I agree with Eames. Arthur are you sure you know what you're doing? I mean it took me years to propose to Mal."

"I know what I'm doing. Look we all know I don't have much time left. I care about Ariadne, and this is probably the happiest I've ever been in a relationship. Each relationship moves at a different pace."

"You need to know that this is marriage we're talking about Arthur. If it doesn't work out you have to get a divorce…"

Arthur looked at his phone and stood up to leave the bar. "It won't end up in divorce, because I know what I'm doing, we live together already. I'm going home, I'm getting really tired, and I'll see you guys on the television for the Fischer case." He left, smiling. He knew what he wanted to, and he had the perfect place to propose.

* * *

Ariadne impatiently waited for Arthur to come back from his night out. She was infuriated with her two friends, a night in her new house with her group of friends ended in an argument. Their words stung her badly; she couldn't believe what her own friends were saying to her.

_"Ariadne have you finished unpacking everything from your apartment?" Christine asked. _

_"No, I still have a few boxes to empty out." _

_"Is it in case this whole thing doesn't work out?" April mockingly said. _

_Ariadne looked at her two giggling friends in disbelief. "It is going to work out. This relationship is a lot different from any other one I have. I just can't explain to either of you how I feel when I'm with him. You'll understand when you fall in love." _

_"I'm going to be honest right now. You're moving way to quick with this relationship. You should have never gotten involved with a terminally ill man." _

_"I agree with April. Don't take it the wrong way, but what's the point of taking your relationship this far when he's going to pass away in a couple of months? It will only break your heart." _

_She was taken aback from what she just heard. Her so called best friends were trying to convince her to leave Arthur; she wouldn't stand back and let them mock her. "I know what I'm doing. You two are supposed to be my friends and be here for me, I'm not just going to abandon him just because he's sick. I want to think about what's going on right now and not worry about what will happen in the future." _

_April and Christine looked at Ariadne, they were both stunned to see a defensive side of their normally sweet friend. "You know what, just get out, and leave, some friends I have." _

_"Ariadne! We haven't seen you since you moved in with Arthur, are you really doing this right now?!" _

_"Yes I am. Get out of my house." Her two friends stood up and slowly walked out the door, slamming it shut. _

"Some friends I have." Ariadne muttered to herself as she sat on the couch, trying to calm herself down. She heard the door open and she ran towards Arthur hugging him.

"How was your night?" she said to him.

"It was great, but…"

"But what?"

"I sometimes feel like certain people doubt our relationship."

She kissed him. "Why is that?"

"Cobb and Eames think we're moving too fast with this relationship. Do you feel like this whole relationship has been rushed? I want you to give me an honest answer."

"I got into an argument with my friends tonight, that's why they aren't here. They said the exact same thing. I don't think we are moving too fast. They also tried to convince me to leave you because you won't be here for much longer…" Ariadne paused and bit her lip. "We have been dating for nearly a year, and ever since we started dating I've been having a great time, this relationship is different. I see the world so differently when I'm with you, everything is vibrant and colorful and beautiful, before you, my life was dull I felt meaningless." She was crying, she felt great to get all of her emotions about him out. "I'm not worried about your illness, Arthur, you know that. If it's going to be just the two of us, I don't mind."

Arthur leaned in and kissed her, his heart pounding. His mind was racing with so many thoughts. He was certain that he would propose to her within the next couple of days, he knew right then and there that he was in love.

"I love you Ariadne." He whispered to her.

**Thank you so much for the reviews I really appreciate it :D **

**Please review :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Will You?**

She sat in the field of lilies. As a child it was always her favorite place to go and relax, to get her mind off of everything else in the world. _I wonder what the occasion is. _

"I haven't been here for years; I completely forgot how relaxing it is, to get away from the city. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion Ariadne, I just want us to relax for once; you do have a stressful job." He sheepishly grinned at her. They both sat next to each other on the grass. "I used to come here often too, but then I moved away with my parents and I never had the chance to come here to just relax."

Ariadne stared at him. Although his illness has made him lose a significant amount of weight, he was still sure about himself, content. "I find it hard to believe that we lived in the same city for several years when we were children." She breathed in the fresh air. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"You don't have to thank me just yet. We've been together for nearly a year. Even though many of our friends think we are moving too fast, I feel like I've known you for years. You have given me the best moments of my life, and I hope we have many more in the future. I know any other person would have left me on my own to deteriorate, but you have stood by me, and it makes me feel like I'm cured, like I'll be fine, and we both will be." Arthur pulled out a black little box. "Will you marry me?"

Ariadne's face was flushed, and she felt so many emotions, that she couldn't control. She felt shocked, but she knew what she had to do next. "Yes, I will." She let him put the beautiful diamond ring on her finger. They lied in the field staring at the sky, not worrying about what to do next, because from then on it wouldn't matter, just as long as they both were with each other.

**Sorry about it being such a short chapter, I promise the next one will start detailing Arthur's illness and their impending future. **

**Thanks for reading and please review :)**


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